ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The treatment of open wounds with exposed bone, tendon, or nerve is a challenging reconstructive problem, especially in children. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of using acellular dermal templates combined with negative pressure wound dressings in the treatment of complicated paediatric soft tissue extremity wounds. METHOD: A retrospective review of eight patients treated with acellular dermal templates for closure of complicated extremity wounds was performed. After debridement, all patients were treated with a template and a negative pressure wound treatment (NPWT) system. RESULTS: The average age was 8.8 years with 4 females and 4 males. Four wounds were at the foot/ankle, with tendon exposed in all 4, nerve in 2, and bone in 3. There were 3 lower leg wounds, all with exposed bone. One patient had arm/hand wounds with exposed tendon. The size of the wounds and dermal graft averaged 86cm² and 57cm². The average time to wound closure was 65 days. The majority of the treatment was received as an outpatient, including NPWT. For inpatient and outpatient care, the average number of sponge system changes was 2.6 compared to 4.6, and time between changes was 3.5 compared to 6.8 days. Each patient had only one procedure each for application of the dermal substitute and later one skin grafting procedure. Complications were minimal, and all patients healed their wounds without the need of flaps. One patient required wound revision. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that a dermal template combined with NPWT can safely and effectively be used to treat complicated wounds in children. Closure was obtained without flaps, the majority of the treatment time was spent in the outpatient setting, and the complication rate was low. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: There were no external sources of funding for this study. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Subject(s)
Acellular Dermis , Arm Injuries/surgery , Leg Injuries/surgery , Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy/methods , Skin Transplantation/methods , Soft Tissue Injuries/surgery , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Retrospective Studies , Treatment Outcome , Wound HealingABSTRACT
We describe the long-term (mean 6.8 years) follow-up of 43 children treated medically for chronic constipation and encopresis. Overall outcome was quite good. Thirty children (70%) were entirely asymptomatic at follow-up. Intermittent mild constipation persisted in 13 patients; only two required persistent but infrequent laxative therapy. Encopresis persisted in three of 17 children who initially reported this symptom, and was associated with significant behavioral problems.
Subject(s)
Constipation/therapy , Adolescent , Cathartics/therapeutic use , Child , Child, Preschool , Enema , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , MaleABSTRACT
Malnutrition in hemodialysis patients is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The use of intradialytic parenteral nutrition (IDPN) to improve nutritional parameters has been shown to be of limited benefit in most studies. We studied the use of recombinant human growth hormone (rHuGH) in potentiating the effects of IDPN in seven hemodialysis patients dialyzed with a Kt/V of 1.03 +/- 0.11 (mean +/- SEM), but with evidence of malnutrition: albumin, 3.2 +/- 0.18 g/dL; transferrin, 215 +/- 30 mg/dL; insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), 115 +/- 19 ng/mL, protein catabolic rate (PCR), 0.70 +/- 0.05 g/kg/d; and weight, 12.3% +/- 4.0% below ideal body weight. During 6 weeks of IDPN, resulting in an additional 18 +/- 4 kcal and 0.69 +/- 0.03 g of protein/kg body weight per dialysis session, albumin concentration increased to 3.5 +/- 0.14 g/dL (compared with baseline, P = NS), transferrin increased to 279 +/- 36 mg/dL (P < 0.002), IGF-1 increased to 152 +/- 32 ng/mL (P = NS), and PCR increased to 0.81 +/- 0.04 g/kg/d (P = NS). During the next 6 weeks, IDPN administration was continued and rHuGH, at a dose of 5 mg subcutaneously during each dialysis, was added to the regimen. This resulted in an increase in albumin concentration to 3.8 +/- 0.08 g/dL (P < or = 0.04 compared with end of IDPN phase), an increase in transferrin to 298 +/- 41 mg/dL (P = NS compared with end of IDPN phase), and an increase in IGF-1 to 212 +/- 45 ng/mL (P = 0.05 compared with end of IDPN phase).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)